imperial culture

[flykiller]

elsewhere we read:

The Imperium is not America or The United Nations or the Terran Confederation or the Rule of Man or the Sylean Condefederation. But it is the cultural heir to all of these ....

what is imperial culture? is there one? is it really the culture of the/any nobility and simply nothing more than their views and needs? or would it better be described as simply space-faring, driving by the realities of space-going travel? what about world cultures? are they imperial? elsewhere mora is described as a gynarchy - certainly their population and economic force alone would spread their culture far and wide, so could they be described as "spinward marches culture"? what about trin, porozlo, and louzy? would bucolic worlds such as porozlo and regina be ideals longed-for by those trapped in high-tech high-surveillance high-speed regimes? or would glisten and it's space arks and j6 be the ideal at which all those dirt-covered farmers gaze in longing?

[mike wightman]

It has never been adequately detailed.

GDW published lots of stuff set in a frontier sector (one that has been settled for over a thousand years but still a frontier) but neglected to detail how imperial core worlds are different to the frontier.

The closest you come to learning about an Imperial culture as such is probably GT Nobles.

[maksimsmelchak]

Originally Posted by flykiller

elsewhere we read:

what is imperial culture? is there one? is it really the culture of the/any nobility and simply nothing more than their views and needs? or would it better be described as simply space-faring, driving by the realities of space-going travel? what about world cultures? are they imperial? elsewhere mora is described as a gynarchy - certainly their population and economic force alone would spread their culture far and wide, so could they be described as "spinward marches culture"? what about trin, porozlo, and louzy? would bucolic worlds such as porozlo and regina be ideals longed-for by those trapped in high-tech high-surveillance high-speed regimes? or would glisten and it's space arks and j6 be the ideal at which all those dirt-covered farmers gaze in longing?

There is no one Imperial Culture. If any culture in Charted Space can be called multicultural, it's that of the feudal confederation known as the Third Imperium.

External Link: [http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Third_Imperium ]

The preamble of the Warrant of Restoration of the Imperium reads:

The worlds of the universe lie separated by the vastness of space, each alone, and dependent upon its own resources. In the past, a greater community of worlds has existed, promoting a greater good for all its members, and for all those who have interacted with it. The time has now come to reestablish that greater community.
On the foundations of the past, in order to promote:
Safe travel among the stars, the exploration of worlds circling those stars, the pursuit of knowledge, mutually profitable trade and commerce, the active exchange of information and tech the individual pursuit of personal betterment, and the collective pursuit of community good, we hereby reestablish the Grand Empire of the Stars.

And that's about the extent of the commonalities.

There are at least a zillion other differences and details. And that sounds pretty true to human nature, much more so than the utopianism of Star Trek or the naivite of Star Wars... Or...

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

[flykiller]

There are at least a zillion other differences and details.

hm. and would there be any agency, perhaps, working in the back-ground, to ensure that the imperium does not become ... TOO united?

[RandyB]

Originally Posted by flykiller

hm. and would there be any agency, perhaps, working in the back-ground, to ensure that the imperium does not become ... TOO united?

Other than the usual go-to, "Hiver manipulation"?

Not necessary, IMO. Too many distinct worlds, culturally separated (if not isolated) by communication times on the order of weeks-to-months.

[Nick H]

There are a number of shared aspects of culture within the Imperium.

1. A disdain for psionics.
2. A loyalty to the Imperium when faced with an external threat.
3. A general deference to nobility and royalty.
4. An appreciation of diversity.

It's not much to go on, but one of the reasons the Third Imperium survived as long as it did. The aversion to (1) was constant in the CT/MT eras, the Imperium faced its greatest threats from internal rather than external conflict, it's when the nobility and royalty turned on each other that the ties that bound unravelled and (4) neither Dulinor nor Lucan could appreciate that.

[rancke]

By an absolutely amazing (but extremely convenient) coincidence Imperial culture is quite similar to 20th and 21st Century Western culture. The values that PCs are assumed to have in all published adventures and amber zones are those of the players that are expected to play the characters. The laws and mores are assumed to default to those values. Even when the PCs are expected to break laws, it is laws akin to 20th Century Western laws they are expected to break.

Whenever quaint and unusual customs and mores are introduced, it's always local customs and mores. Imperial customs and mores default to those of the players every time.


Hans

[Reban]

Originally Posted by flykiller

elsewhere we read:

what is imperial culture? is there one? is it really the culture of the/any nobility and simply nothing more than their views and needs? or would it better be described as simply space-faring, driving by the realities of space-going travel? what about world cultures? are they imperial? elsewhere mora is described as a gynarchy - certainly their population and economic force alone would spread their culture far and wide, so could they be described as "spinward marches culture"? what about trin, porozlo, and louzy? would bucolic worlds such as porozlo and regina be ideals longed-for by those trapped in high-tech high-surveillance high-speed regimes? or would glisten and it's space arks and j6 be the ideal at which all those dirt-covered farmers gaze in longing?

Funny enough I've just been thinking about this from the point of view of law and justice, so I re-read the intro to the T5 BBB and pulled down T4 Milleu 0

Assuming that "culture" is the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society both sources suggest that the basis of Imperial Culture is based on Duty, Honor and Loyalty.

You can breakdown the Imperium to many levels of local culture but the thing that unites all sophonts in the Imperium are these three things:

- A sense of duty, to each other, the Emperor and their role in the society of the Imperium.

- A code of honor that covers such things as responding to a Signal GK, carrying out ones duties without fear or favor far from the eyes of superiors. The wielding of power, especially as a noble, that benefits the whole rather than the individual.

- Loyalty to the Emperor and the Imperium, a sense of a greater community among the stars more than any one world.

[whartung]

Originally Posted by rancke

By an absolutely amazing (but extremely convenient) coincidence Imperial culture is quite similar to 20th and 21st Century Western culture. The values that PCs are assumed to have in all published adventures and amber zones are those of the players that are expected to play the characters. The laws and mores are assumed to default to those values. Even when the PCs are expected to break laws, it is laws akin to 20th Century Western laws they are expected to break.

It's truly a striking coincidence. Obviously this is because the Ancients seeded the worlds from humans originally on earth. That's the only way to explain it.

I would think that there wouldn't per se be an "imperial culture", much like there isn't an American culture. There are certainly overarching themes, but the different geographic areas of the US certainly have their own distinct cultures.

That said, I would think that were would be an Imperial Court culture. Whether this is some Victorian model or what, who can say, but the People of the Court, those actual of nobility, those trying to work their way in to that world, etc. -- that would have a distinct culture, that perhaps people would turn on and off as they enter and exit Imperial events.

[mike wightman]

Except for the last words in LBB3...